Withdrawal
by Dizzy28
Summary: CC is bored, Niles is here to help. / Set somewhere between Dummy Twins and the finale.


**AN:** **I literally found this in a folder and have 0 recollection of writing it, but I think it's pretty good. Let me know with your reviews whether I should play scavenger hunt through my WIPs more often though!**

 **Set between Dummy Twins and the finale, aka Why Didn't That Last A Whole Season.**

 **~Dizzy**

* * *

The silence in the office feels thick as an English fog, a clear sign that Fran Sheffield has left the building, and that Niles is too busy to come pester CC. Or, as it had developed into lately, _play_ with CC. So logically, after doing the work Maxwell expected would take four hours in two, CC is dreadfully **bored**. And there is nothing CC hated more than being bored, when there is a perfectly good witty butler somewhere in the house.

She clears her throat decidedly, standing up from the green sofa that had become her favorite spot in the office - for more than just _working_ , as she and Niles eventually figured out. Maxwell just glances up for a second with a curious look in his eyes.

"Just going to the kitchen for some tea, Maxwell." She announces, and Maxwell's mouth twitches in a weird way before he cuts her escape off.

"No need, CC, I can just tell Niles to bring some."

CC curses mentally. That would certainly help with her boredom - Niles always comes into the office ready with a zinger or two all for her - but even before they started sleeping together, CC had discovered she had way more fun when it was just the butler and her. Almost as if they had developed this back and forth over the years that the mere presence of other people slanted slightly. CC had noted that whenever Maxwell was present, Niles' zingers became meaner, whereas when Nanny Fine was in the room, they were usually to make the former Nanny smile.

Of course that changed radically once they admitted their feelings for each other, their playful flirting meshing so well with their jabs at each other it made CC feel a delicious fluttering in her stomach. Nope, she definitely needed to see Niles _alone_ , now.

"Oh, don't bother, Maxwell, by the time he gets his fat butler ass out here the tea will have run cold," she replies airily, and Maxwell just shrugs, his mouth again twitching weirdly. "Can I get you something?" She asks as an afterthought.

"No, I-" Maxwell starts, but she's out of the office before he can even finish the sentence.

She takes the short way through the hallway to the kitchen, avoiding the living room, lest Nanny Fine is back and has some annoying little story about her annoying family. CC couldn't help to find the woman, well, _annoying_ , even though Niles' face scrunched up disapprovingly every time she tried to share her opinion on the ex-nanny with him. CC knew Niles had a soft spot for the soft-brained woman, but really, one had to be blind _and_ deaf.

At any rate, CC makes it to the kitchen fairly quickly, and Niles only acknowledges her presence by momentarily stopping his chopping and looking up.

"Hello, hello," she announces cheerily, and he hums noncommittally. She walks to her usual spot behind the counter, face to face with Niles, which incidentally is her _second_ favorite spot in the kitchen. Used to be her first, of course, but then Niles had a brilliant idea about testing the resilience of the kitchen table, and _well_ …

He's still silent even when CC comes back from her daydreaming, and it's starting to really bug her. Of course, it's all a game to him, she can tell when he's really upset or angry.

"Can you make me some tea?" She asks with an overly saccharine voice, trying to get a reaction out of him, but he simply stops chopping vegetables and nods minutely.

"Of course." He turns around and deftly prepares a kettle, leaning against the counter next to the stove once he's done.

CC bristles a bit at that, and walks around the island to stand right in front of him, arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently against the kitchen floor.

"Okay, Rochester, what are you up to?"

Niles simply shrugs, but she can see his lips finally twitch in a similar way as Maxwell's earlier in the office, and she finally realizes both gestures were repressed smiles.

"Nothing, just resting here, on my _fat butler ass_ ," he ends in a hiss, and a little pout, crossing his arms defensively as CC lets out a chuckle.

"God, you _yenta_ , can't you turn off your direct hearing aid-to-intercom link for five seconds?" CC teases, turning to lean against the countertop next to Niles, pressing the side of her body against his to avoid the hot stove. Yeah, just because of the stove.

"I don't know, can't you turn off the temblor that shook the Earth when you stood up to come fetch me?" he volleys back, still pouting like an idiot. A _very_ cute idiot, CC thinks. "You know I'm self conscious about my figure," he adds with a huff, which earns a deep laugh from CC.

"No need to worry about your figure, lover, you know the letter 'o' was always my favorite," Niles can't help but chuckle at that, and CC mentally makes a tally on her score for breaking Niles' defenses. "And I didn't come fetch you, _dear_ , I came to get tea."

Niles raises an eyebrow at her, and now it's her that feels defensive. And with just one gesture. That's one tally in Niles' score.

"Baby, you're positively smitten. _Dependent_ , one would say. Though I'm sure you're not used to hearing it without the word _alcohol_ in front of it."

CC snorts at that. "You're pretty wordy, for a maid," she accepts, and chuckles when Niles gives her a little bow. " _Niles_ dependence, huh?"

Niles just smiles widely at her. "I think it has a nice ring to it, don't you?"

CC would _never_ admit so, and she's saved from having to answer by the whistling of the kettle. Niles gives her a smile that tells her he's not going to let this go, and pours her tea into a mug and hands it to her, taking advantage of the nearness the gesture requires to steal a tender and way-too-short kiss.

"Have fun playing with your carrots, lover," she says airily as she walks towards the kitchen door.

"Oh, Babcock," Niles calls out before she's out of the kitchen, and she turns around to find him back at his chopping board. "If you need another hit, you know where I am."

"Of tea?" CC asks coyly.

Niles smirks shamelessly. "Of good lovin'" he drawls, and her laughter lasts until she's back in the office.


End file.
